ADAPTATION OF A PROPYLENE REFRIGERATION

COMPRESSOR WITH DRY GAS SEALS

by
John R. Dugas, Jr.
Senior Engineer

Bich X. Tran
Senior Area Engineer

E. I. duPont deNemours & Company, Incorporated

Orange, Texas

and
James F. Southcott
Market Segment Manager, Type 28 Product Group

John Crane Inc.

Morton Grove, Illinois

sign installation, and troubleshooting. This included experience in

JohnR. (Johnny) Dugas is a Senior En­
gineer with DuPont's Chemicals Depart­
ment in Orange, Texas. For the past ii
years, he has been assigned to the Techni­
cal Department of the ethylene manufac­
turing facility where he is involved in repair,
troubleshooting, redesign, and specifica­
tion of turbomachinery and other process
equipment. He has worked at Du Pont
/. since graduating from the University of
Southwestern Louisiana with a B.S. degree
in Mechanical Engineering (1973 ). Previous activities with Du
Pont dealt with maintenance and construction of mechanical
equipment including assignments with Du Pont's Construction
and Field Service Divisions.
Bich X. Tran is a Senior Area Engineer
with E.i. duPont de Nemours and Compa­
ny, incorporated. He joined Du Pont in
i98i after receiving a B.S. degree in Me­
chanical Engineering from the University
of Missouri. He has been involved in spec­
ification, technical evaluation, redesign,
troubleshooting, and maintenance of vari­
ous chemical processing equipment. Cur­
rently, he is assigned to the Technical
Department of Du Pont's ethylene manu­
facturingfacility located at the SabineRiver Works site in Orange,
Texas.
James F. Southcott is the Market Seg­
ment Manager, Type-28 Product Group,
for John Crane inc. His responsibilities
with John Crane include the application
and marketing of the dry gas seal and its
ancillary instrumentation/control systems
to turbomachinery in the HPJ, Chemical
and Gas Transmission Segments.
Prior to joining John Crane, he had over
20 years of experience in a broad range of
mechanical equipment applications, de-
fluid dynamics/turbomachinery.
Mr. Southcott has a B.S.M.E. degree from the University of
Wisconsin.
ABSTRACT
The retrofit of a 35000 hp, two-case centrifugal, propylene
refrigeration compressor with tandem dry gas seals in Du Pont's
ethylene plant at Orange, Texas, is described. The installation of
these dry gas seals is one of the first applications to propylene
refrigeration service in the United States.
The new seal design eliminated seal oil contamination of the
compressor and downstream heat exchangers which led to de­
creased efficiency, effectiveness, and subsequent loss of ethylene
production. The seals also reduced the capital investment for a
flare system upgrade project $1.5MM, by decreasing propylene
losses during system shutdowns caused by existing seal system
shortcomings.
This retrofit was unique in several ways. The original compres­
sor manufacturer had no experience with dry gas seals installed in
their equipment. They were very willing to cooperate in this
venture, but only to the point of providing dimensional data and
engineering review. Due to the "sold-out" condition of the ethyl­
ene market, this installation had to be accomplished during a
limited shutdown. In order to minimize downtime, an innovative
installation method was developed which eliminated opening
compressor casings even though the new design required remov­
ing-a shaft sleeve. To demonstrate the feasibility of this method, a
mock up was built simulating working conditions to develop
techniques and tooling to remove the shaft sleeve.
INTRODUCTION
Although the spiral groove dry gas seal technology has been
fully developed for over 10 years, it has only been used extensively
during the past five years. There are over 2000 of these dry gas
seals in use and the petrochemical and refining industries have had
excellent results with them. For example, the spiral groove dry seal

57
58 PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWENTIETH TURBOMACHINERY SYMPOSIUM

has more than four million hours running time on various hydro­
carbons. The longest continuous running time of a dry seal expe­
rienced to date is 43000 hr. The retrofit at the Orange facility is one
of the first applications in the United States of these dry seals with
propylene. The advantages of the dry gas seal over conventional
oil seals are:
• Eliminating the seal oil support system including seal oil
pumps, reservoirs, filters, traps, coolers and consoles.
• Eliminating the parasitic losses from the wet seal system.
• Preventing process gas contamination with seal oil.
Reducing the process gas leaks (from 15 scfm and above for
•
Using dry gas seals eliminated both of these problems. The seals
do not use oil, so oil contamination is no longer an issue. High
Flux™ tubing can be used, reducing the overall modernization
costs by $3.1MM. The design of the dry seal allows the propylene
refrigeration system to settle-out at 70-80 psig, eliminating the
need to flare propylene during system shutdowns. The new flare
drum was eliminated and the project investment was reduced by
$ 1.5MM.
In addition, oil fouling of the overhead condensers in the
propylene system currently reduces their capacity by 20 percent.
Installing dry gas seals and cleaning the oil from the system will
return these condensers to rated capacity. Assuming conservative­
ly that only 25 percent of this restricted capacity is recovered,

wet oil systems to one to three scfm for the dry gas seals).
$2.4MM/yr would be generated from the increased ethylene
• Reducing maintenance costs. production.
The ethylene refrigeration compressor has also experienced the
• Reducing unscheduled shutdowns and minimizing down­
oil contamination problem. Dry gas seals have been ordered for
time.
this compressor to eliminate that problem and enable the High
BACKGROUND Flux™ tubing technology to be used for this modernization project.

The initial propylene refrigeration compressor was installed in PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION

1967. However, it was replaced in 1985 to take advantage of new
The spiral groove dry gas seal provides a gas lubricated, self
technology for increasing compressor efficiencies (Figure 1). This
acting, noncontacting alternative to the oil seal. The main compo­
compressor, manufactured by an overseas supplier, has provided
nents of this seal are the stationary primary ring (usually carbon),
excellent service with the exception of a low settle out pressure
the mating ring (usually tungsten carbide) fixed to the rotating
required by the seals and process gas oil contamination problems
shaft, and the multiple spring mechanism to provide axial force on
experienced, due to a fundamental seal design shortcoming. This
the primary ring (Figure 2). These components are similar to
design problem was aggravated by process seal upsets and improp­
er operation of the seal system during unit outages.
A proposed ethylene modernization project for the plant includ­
ed capital investment for modernizing the flare system. The flare
system upgrade provided for handling the propylene vented from
the propylene refrigeration system during a shutdown. The normal
compressor settle out pressure is 70 to 80 psig, but the design limit
of the oil seals mandated that propylene be sent to the flare to
maintain the system pressure below 40 psig during shutdowns. A

Figure 1. Propylene Refrigeration Compressor.

Figure 2. Dry Gas Seal Cross Section.

new dry flare drum, estimated at $2.0MM, would be needed to
handle this additional load.
The modernization study also considered using High Flux™
tubing in heat exchangers downstream of the compressor to in­
crease capacity at minimal cost. These tubes could improve heat
transfer by tenfold, but they are highly susceptible to fouling.
Since the propylene refrigeration system has experienced severe
contamination by oil from the compressor seals, High Flux™
tubing could not be used.
conventional mechanical seals, except for the wider sealing faces
and spiral grooves added to the mating ring.
When the compressor is not running, the two rings are held in
contact by mechanical springs, allowing a minimal amount of
leakage. When the shaft is rotating, the rings separate, forming a
gap as the pressure rises in the spiral grooves.
 ADAPTATION OF A PROPYLENE REFRIGERATION COMPRESSOR WITH DRY GAS SEALS
The logarithmic spiral grooves on the outside portion of the
mating ring face, shown in Figure 3, serve to "pump" the gas from
the outer diameter (O.D.) to the inner diameter (I.D.) of the faces.
The inner surface of the ring acts as a sealing dam, providing a
barrier to gas flow. This forms a restrictive plane at the apex of the
spiral grooves across which the gas begins to decrease in pressure
and expand (O.D. to I.D.). The gap stabilizes when the hydrostatic
and hydrodynamic forces are equal. The face geometry is extreme­
ly critical and must provide a gas film thick enough to prevent the
rings from physical contact, but thin enough to prevent excessive
gas leakage. The gas leakage from these seals is less than 2 scfm
while the leakage from the oil seal systems is 15 scfm or greater.
The seal for this application is a tandem type, 9 5/8 in cartridge
seal with a continuous face velocity of 185 ft/sec. The maximum
axial float capability for transient conditions is± 0.100 in. Rotor
position tolerance for seal installation is± 0.0 15 in, well within
typical compressor thrust bearing float.
Figure 3. Spiral Grooves in Dry Gas Seal Hardface.
SEAL MANUFACTURER
The seal manufacturer was selected based on the follow criteria:
• Dry gas seal engineering experience
• Manufacturing capabilities
• Number of satisfied users
The spiral groove dry gas seal was developed in the 1970s and
the manufacturer has successfully engineered and designed these
·seals for 14 years.
The seal manufacturer has committed several million dollars at
its facility, shown in Figure 4, for state-of-the-art equipment. The
manufacturing facility has the capability of machining extremely
tight toleranced part geometries from difficult, high temperature
59
alloy materials. They use four or five axis CNC machines that have
machine position repeatability of 80 to 160 millionths of an inch
(Figure 5). These machines are combined into machining cells that
use distributed numerical control (DNC).
The manufacturer's quality assurance facility has the capability
to check and certify any component part to 100 millionths of an
inch and flatness to within one light band or 1 1.6 millionths of an
inch (Figure 6). In addition, QA records very critical component
dimension and surface finish are available for complete traceabil­
ity if required.
The seal manufacturer provided estimates and guaranteed the
seal would not exceed predicted leakages. Each seal is tested both
statically and dynamicall y at operating conditions. The
manufacturer has molecular weight simulation capabilities with
air and helium mixing. The test cell setup also includes state-of­
the-art software for pressure, temperature, speed, and leakage
printouts (Figure 7).
Figure 4. Dry Gas Seal Manufacturing Facility.
Figure 5. Seal Manufacturing Area-DNC Machines.
EXECUTION
The initial project of retrofitting the compressor with dry gas
seals involved an engineering contractor, an overseas OEM, the
seal manufacturer, and the plant. The contractor insisted that the
OEM guarantee the compressor performance with the dry gas seal.
However, the OEM had no previous experience with these seals
60 PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWENTIETH TURBOMACHINERY SYMPOSIUM
Figure 6. QA Check During Seal Assembly.
Figure 7. Dry Gas Seal Testing Facility.
and refused to guarantee the compressor performance. The plant
had to assume responsibility for managing the project and had to
work directly with the supplier.
The OEM provided the drawings and performed the bearing
stability and rotordynamic analysis based on using dry seals. They
provided the plant with sufficient information to conduct an
independent audit. The plant also used their company's worldwide
resources by developing a task team to work on the dry gas seal
project.
To ensure the quality and performance of the dry gas seals, all
seal components were inspected by the seal manufacturer and the
results reviewed by the plant. All seals were shop tested to provide
a baseline reference for seal leakages. The tandem seal cartridges
were first tested statically and had very low leakage. Dynamic tests
followed, where the seal chamber pressure and speed were varied
to simulate the maximum expected seal operating conditions.
Leakages measured across seal faces were significantly less than
the guaranteed leakages rate. After testing, the seals were disas­
sembled and the seal components inspected. No problems were
found. The seals were then reassembled and shipped to the plant
site.
The utilization of the OEM to provide dimensional drawings
and review the seal design provided benefits when it was discov­
ered that a shaft 0-ring was located incorrectly. Even though the
seals had already been shipped, an alternate design was developed,
the seals were returned to the seal vendor for modifications, and
then reshipped in time for the shutdown. This prevented the plant
from having to correct the problem during the limited shutdown
timing available.
MOCKUP
A cross section is shown in Figure 8 of one compressor case and
the oil seal components which were removed to accommodate the
new dry gas seal cartridge are illustrated. Limited availability of
the compressor for installing the dry gas seal during the shutdown
necessitated developing a method to remove a shaft sleeve without
splitting the compressor case. This sleeve needed to be removed in
order to provide a means of driving the seal. A mock up was
developed which simulated the working conditions on the com­
pressor floor. It consisted of a spare compressor rotor and a seal
bushing simulating the limited space for removing the shaft sleeve
and is shown in Figure 9.
COMPRESSOR CASING
SEAL
GLAND
COMPRESSOR CASING
SEAL
GLAND
Figure 8. Compressor Cross Section of Seal Area.
Special fixtures and tooling were fabricated to facilitate remov­
al of the shaft sleeve which included drill bits and 2.0 ft long taps.
Guiding rings were used to control the drill bits and taps and then
to secure the shaft sleeve with four bolts while two 19 in, 3/8 in all­
thread studs were attached to a clamp ring puller. The first attempt
at removing the sleeve was successful, but revealed some short­
comings with the technique and tooling. The 1/2 in thick guide was
too flimsy and distorted badly. Using four all thread studs for
pulling the sleeve, rather than two studs, would have helped
prevent this distortion. In addition, heat had to be applied to the
shaft sleeve for final removal.
After review of the first mock up procedure, the tooling was
modified and the trial was repeated. The guide tooling thickness
was increased from 1/2 in to 1 in, and additional tooling was used
to provide guidance for the drill bits. An "old man" was designed
and fabricated to assist in the drilling procedure. The hole depth in
the sleeve was increased from 1/2 in to 1- 1/4 in. The greater hole
 ADAPTATION OF A PROPYLENE REFRIGERATION COMPRESSOR WITH DRY GAS SEALS
Figure 9. Mock Up for Removing Shaft Sleeve.
depth appeared to relieve the sleeve and enabled it to be removed
easily without being heated. This trial was very successful and
convinced the team that the sleeve could indeed be removed during
the shutdown without splitting the compressor case.
INSTALLATION
The ethylene plant shut down on May 30, 1991, for 21 days to
install the flare modernization project. The dry gas seals were
installed during a 10 day "window" in the middle of this shutdown.
After the propylene refrigeration compressor was blocked in and
the system cleared of explosiveness, the existing oil seals were
removed. All four shaft sleeves were successfully removed, using
the procedure and tooling developed and proven by the mock up
prior to the shutdown. This procedure went very smoothly, taking
only eight hours to complete. The alternative procedure, which
involved removing the compressor case, would have taken four to
six days.
The new dry gas seal installation was routine. The only special
tools required for installation in the field were two threaded rods
and a backer plate. All four seals were installed and tested by the
tenth day of the shutdown. Representatives from the compressor
61
manufacturer and seal manufacturer participated in the installation
of the dry gas seals. Startup of the propylene compressor was
routine and operation of the seals has been excellent to date.
SUMMARY
The retrofit of the propylene refrigeration compressor with dry
gas seals was an enormous success. The original objectives of
eliminating oil contamination and correcting an inherent design
flaw in the existing seals were accomplished providing annual
savings of $2.4MM/yr and avoiding capital investments of $4.6MM.
By utilizing an innovative seal removal procedure, the seals were
installed on schedule, during the required shutdown timing con­
straints. In addition, by contracting with the compressor
manufacturer to provide dimensional data and an engineering
audit, by conducting our own engineering audit, and by using the
seal manufacturer's experience and quality assurance capabilities,
the seals were manufactured and installed with minimal problems
encountered and are providing outstanding performance.
Based on the success of this adaptation, dry gas seals will be
installed on the ethylene refrigeration compressor. Several addi­
tional applications of this technology are being evaluated within
Du Pont. The success of this application has opened the door for
newer technologies, particularly combining dry gas seals with
magnetic bearing technology to achieve totally dry, oil free com­
pressor train systems.
REFERENCE
Sedy, J., "Improved Performance of Film Riding Gas Seals
Through Enhancement of Hydrodynamic Effects," ASLE-78- LC-
3B- 1 ( 1978).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of
Angie Grimes and Jerry Wilkerson, E. I. du Pont de Nemours &
Co., Inc., Orange, Texas, and Siegfried M. Zierau, Exxon Chem­
ical Company, Baytown, Texas, for their help in preparing this
paper. In addition, the authors wish to acknowledge Robert Parker,
Doug Collier, and Jerry Smith, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.,
Inc., for their contributions in developing the mock up which led
to the success of this program.
62 PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWENTIETH TURBOMACHINERY SYMPOSIUM